How to survive the winter in Suzhou
I should have written this post earlier, as normally it starts getting chilly in November, but this year we have had a gentle winter. Now it is starting to get cold, but I am not sure if we will have another polar wave like last year’s, which fried the poor plants I had in the balcony.
Obviously, Suzhou doesn’t get as cold as the cities in the north of China. But we have a disadvantage… there is no central heating here and houses are badly insulated, so it can get quite cold inside your apartment. Do you know that warm feeling when you get home after being outside on a winter day? Well, you will not get that in Suzhou as it is often as cold inside as outside.
Am I painting a very bleak picture? Fret not! I have (more or less) successfully survived several winters in Suzhou and Shanghai, so I have some tips for you.
1. Get an apartment with heating
Rumour says there are apartments with heating in Suzhou, but I am not one of the Chosen Ones. I have never seen these mythical apartments. It seems most of them have floor heating and the electricity bill might give you a heart attack, but it is probably worth it if you can sit in your sofa with less than 5 layers of clothes.
I found out recently that it is actually possible to install a kind of heating without having to knock down walls and in only 2 days. I will consider it if I have a baby, but I am pretty scared of doing anything that involves bringing builders home as I have witnessed how careless and dirty they are.
If you can’t get an apartment with heating, then let’s review the more traditional methods.
2. Hot air con to the max
We don’t have heating, yes, but at least we have air conditioning machines with winter functionalities (i.e. hot air). If not I would have probably become an ice lolly by now. Interestingly, many Chinese old people avoid turning the air con on and they prefer to look like the Michelin doll with 30 layers of clothes. I guess they are used to it, but most probably they also do it to save money! Hot air con is not the best heating method, as hot air goes up and your feet remain cold, but at least it’s something.
3. Chinese style winter pajamas
At first I despised them because, let’s be honest, they don’t look very good. But after trying them I have to say they won me over. I don’t know what they are made of, but it’s warm. And it is completely acceptable to go outside in them. No one will even look at you!
And don’t forget to pair the pajamas with this “high class lady going to have tea with her friends” hairdo.
4. Long johns
Starting around October, all Chinese people start wearing their long underwear. In Spain I never had to wear it (and had only seen it in movies about the Far West) but here it is a must. Usually people (both men and women) wear a two piece set of pants and t-shirt. It is very unsexy but it will keep you warm. For the coldest months it’s better to use the ones that have fuzz on the inside.
I loved this slogan: “A fire in winter”.
5. Electric slippers
I haven’t tried them yet because C. fears they might explode, but they look like a very good idea to me. You plug them and they heat up. Best invention ever!
6. Other heating accessories
Good old hot water bottles (my inseparable winter bed mate #1), hot bottles that have some strange liquid inside and have to be plugged in to get hot, electric bed warmers (my inseparable winter bed mate #2), extra-large plasters that you stick to your body and mysteriously get warm, hot shoe soles, small packets with something strange inside that gets hot when you press them… All kinds of magical things can be found in Taobao.
Warm pads. Will they really get you on fire? I’ll have to try!
7. Other heating tricks
Wearing two or three pairs of socks, drinking tea or other hot drinks (you can also warm your hands while holding the cup), standing up and jumping for a couple of minutes until you start sweating… you gotta do what you gotta do to get an acceptable body temperature.
8. Bonus track: dancing
A few weeks ago C. got a game called Just Dance for PS4. As its name clearly indicates, it’s about dancing. Two songs and I have to start taking layers off! Great winter game.
What are your tricks for surviving winter?
Ha, those patches look like the hand warmers you put inside ski gloves when you’re hitting the slopes!
Do you use fingerless gloves? I have two pairs to help me keep typing, because while, yes, we have decent insulation and central heating, there’s something in me that rebells against turning on the heat while living in Southern California.
Even if I have been known to work in a ski hat.
I put fingerless gloves on when I am working! But my fingers get cold anyway, hahaha. You sound a bit like Chinese old people. “This is the south! It’s not cold in here!”.
As a Canadian reading this. I laugh.
I’m sure the temperature is way lower in Canada, but I’m also pretty sure you must have good insulation and heating! People from the north of China are known to despise people complaining about the cold in the south because they often have -20ºC or lower so they think we complain of nothing. Then they come for a visit and freeze their asses because it’s 10 degrees and humid inside the apartment! I was never shivering in my bed when I lived in Beijing, but it happened in Shanghai and Suzhou!
I write that tongue in cheek :) It’s true that humidity plays a huge role in the body’s perceive temperature and many Canadians (especially those in big cities) are complete wimps and spoiled, heating their places up to 20ºC or sometimes higher.
Still, many are quite comfortable at 13ºC 75% rel. humidity in a plain sweater. Perhaps diet and activities have something to do with it. Since foods here are on the rich side and people still tend to do a lot of outdoor winter activities. Both heat the body up quite a bit and the results often last for a few hours after. A friend from Salamanca, went on the “traditional Canadian” (or Castilian?) diet with daily hiking/sports on his winter stay here and he faired well in t-shirts and shorts in a 15ºC house. It’s worth a try!
Hey, 20ºC sounds like a perfect temperature for me hahaha. I’m always so cold! My hands and feet are always freezing.
Yes, being active helps a lot. Problem is I spend most of the day in front on the computer! I should dance more with that PS4 game :D
This reminds me so much of growing up in a small terraced house in working class England in the 1960s — the only sources of heat were small gas-fuelled fires in the kitchen and living room, with no heat upstairs at all. Icicles on the inside of the bedroom window?! Loving your blog!
Brrrr! I haven’t had icicles yet (crossing my fingers that I will never have them haha). Thank you!
Oh yeah the good old problem in Southern China to live without heating and insulation. I remember a guy telling me that it was nearly as cold inside as it was outside during winter when he lived in Shanghai for 10 years :D
I do really wonder what the problem is for them to build without insulation…I mean even in Xi’an the new buildings are without and temperatures go below -10 degrees celsius!
But in Xi’an there is heating, right??
I can imagine why insulation is not installed… because it’s something that costs money (of course) and can’t be seen… so it’s the perfect thing to cut costs on!
So I heard but I yet have to find a new apartment block with heating:D
My in laws got 2 years ago gas heating in their block which will be torn down in 5 years, they know how to invest the money. When they heat they warm more the outside walls rather then inside…
Hahaha. Hot air con to the max. It really doesn’t sound practical and they can be noisy too, not to mention brings up a big electricity bills. Winter in Melbourne isn’t cold but I will always be cold. Last winter I found woolen jumpers made of real wool kept me warm .
I am always cold too. My mum says I have bad blood circulation and my MIL says I have to eat more dates to become warmer, haha.
Ha ha. Must get that hairdo.
I think that woman did half of the ozone layer hole all by herself xD
Your abuela needs to send you some hot water bottles! Love the Pj’s!
I wear thermal tops (I picked one up last year in Forever2 and 2 this year from Hollister. The Hollister one’s I’m not sure if ‘proper’ thermals but they do the trick and are lightweight under tops) and feel like I’m getting old! Thankfully my leggings keep me warm without the need for thermals underneath them. I can’t even handle tights under jeans to keep warm. No breathable layers! Quilted gilets are great too at keeping you warm without feeling you’re drowning under layers :)
I also got some thermals from Uniqlo but I am not sure how thermal they are haha. They are super light. I wear them under my jeans. But when I’m home I wear the super thick Chinese ones.
I wear fluffy blanket jumpers from Oysho in the house, so I can’t judge with a gilet. So stylish!
Antes no puedo ver los fotos y creo que ‘warm pads’ = ‘compresas’! Interesante.
La verdad es que no estoy segura cómo se llaman en español, jaja.
Jaja no usas español mucho en China?
I read the comment from a fellow Canadian above, and I laughed. There is one thing Taiwanese always say to be during the winter months when I say it is cold – ‘But you are from Canada.’ And then I explain about our methods of indoor heating and the fact that the humanity is so darn high in Taiwan making me feel even colder here.
We are using the heating function of our air con a lot more this winter because of my son.
Eaxctly! I think people from cold countries feel even colder in these “not so cold” places haha. I remember when I visited Lapland in Finland, it was like 20 below zero outside but soooo warm inside the hotel, restaurants, malls… people were wearing tank tops under their coats!!
That’s a perfect description of surviving winter here. Cold (but not actually cold – this feels like early November to me) but cold everywhere, all the time. All the time. The cold has no clammy, wet end. I have a friend from Harbin who couldn’t take the winters here.
I basically have two modes – inside my house wearing normal clothes (blasting the hot air conditioner unit – and the second I turn it off the cold creeps right back in) or outside with long underwear and a coat on. I’m wearing a coat like 80% of my waking hours.
My new, testing my sanity, house is a Suzhou unicorn. We have TWO heating systems. It came with a central air system (that just works a tiny bit better than hot a/c) and added a radiator heating system because my wife is from the north and hates winter here. What’s funny is that when any delivery person, salesman or worker shows up at my house, they run over to the radiator in my living room and marvel at it like it’s some kind of alien artifact. They touch it, start laughing with joy because it’s hot and walk around the house to look at all of the other radiators and say how nice it is and blah blah blah. Every single one of them. All I think is ‘yeah, well, if you learned how to put in real windows, insulated the outside of buildings and added a halfway decent heating system, everywhere could be not freezing cold for 3 months straight’.
Come on March!
Only 3 months? I am freezing from November to April every year xD
Radiators are the most common form of heating in Spain. C. was also surprised when he saw them the first time haha.
Now that Xi Dada is all concerned about the environment we should write him a letter and tell him about how much energy the country could save if the houses were efficient and well insulated. Maybe he will even give us an award and the title of “useful laowai who did great contributions to China”! Maybe we would even get an A category in our visa!!
Reminds me of my winters in Delhi – no indoor heating and would dip to 5’c – brrr…. The small movable indoor heaters were the best. Weather remains one of my favourite things about Mumbai – our ‘winters’ are a complete delight – hovering between 21 – 31’c. :-)
21-31? That cannot be called winter, haha!
It is in these parts! ;-) Was just in Kolkata which had a wee ‘nip’ in the air but still exceedingly warm by most folks standards.
Is the winter in Suchow damp and wet, like British winter? It gets into the bones while the winter in Canada is very cold but dry.
Yes! Very humid. I hate it!
I’ve seen a heated up desk mat – can help you out if you need to do some office work in cold room!
The other day I bought online some thing that looks like a small plush cave. You put the mouse and your hand inside, it connects to the computer via USB and it has heating!! I can’t wait to receive it hahaha
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